Saturday, April 12, 2014

Greetings Friends,
It's hard to believe it's been nearly a year since my last post! This time last year I was heading into the great unknown; starting a new job, becoming a "commuter" for the first time in a decade, and taking time to re-assess my life and the direction in which I wish to take it. It seems to me that the last year has passed in the blink of an eye.
I decided at the start of the new gig, that I would put all my outside interests on hold so I could fully concentrate on the task at hand. I stopped writing (and reading) blogs, stopped playing music, didn't plant a garden... Essentially anything that wasn't directly related to work or family went on the back burner. What I discovered in the course of this exercise is the old adage "All work and no play makes (A Different Drummer) a dull boy" rings true. While I've been busier than any time in recent memory, good grief, have I been bored! While I'm thankful for my growth as a "professional" over the last year, being a professional was never goal of mine and quite frankly, it's over-rated. Sure, it's something I CAN do and I've been climbing the ladder because I'm GOOD at what I do, but I have no love for it. My job isn't WHO I am, in fact it's generally at odds with how I want to live my life.
I often "preach" to my staff and colleagues about the importance of work/life balance and more often than not it falls on deaf ears. I guess a lot of people derive their self-worth from their job, which is a concept that I can't grasp. How does one feel great about themselves for spending 12-14 hours a day at work when they haven't seen their spouse or spent time with their kids or done ANYTHING to re-charge themselves - whether physically, mentally or spiritually? Do they not see themselves on the giant rat-wheel, just running and running with no end point, no goal, no destination? Running for the sake of running? I don't get it. Never have. That isn't living by any stretch of the imagination.
So here I am, back again, with renewed focus and dedication to return to the Land of the Living. My spring garden is half planted, I've been tuning back in to music for some inspiration, and I am determined to live my life for me and mine. Not a paycheck, not some over-developed sense of self-importance because of my "position", and sure-as-hell NOT to keep up with the Jones'. I figure if I'm lucky I've got another 30 years on this rotating ball of gas and it's finally time to spend it as I see fit, not to do what is simply expected of me.
We only live once, right? Make it count, people!